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MillimeterGoPro HD Helmet Hero
Nov 19, 2009 12:00 PM, By Dan Ochiva
Three flavors of HD from the latest crash cam.
Waterproof to 180ft. (60 meters) with included housing. Price: $299
Small, inexpensive cameras are becoming much more capable as companies race to become the leader in small crash or hero cams. While they're not the first choice for lightweight HD rigs, these cameras are establishing a new market for small-production action sports and other uses.
Earlier this year, VholdR released its 1080p ContourHD helmet cam. The company has won kudos for the camcorder's ease of mounting and manipulation.
Now GoPro is delivering its HD Helmet Hero camcorder. It can turn out three flavors of HD: 1080p, 960p, and 720p. If, like me, you've never heard of 960p HD, it's 960 pixels wide but in a 4:3 format. The argument here is that you get a 170-degree view, which is useful for surfers or others who want to show things in context. The 1080p version drops down to 127 degrees, which is still adequate for many uses.
There's only one 5-megapixel CMOS sensor at 1/2.5in. diameter, so you'll need plenty of light for the fixed-focus lens. That's not a problem with skateboarders and surfers, of course, the product's initial market. Just to emphasize that, the camcorder includes three helmet mounts, two gear or vehicle mounts, and a head strap for wearing the camcorder like a headlamp. The device, however, sits awkwardly on items such as helmets, and it doesn't have easy-to-reach on/off controls.
It delivers 5-megapixel stills, and it has a timelapse function that can trigger every 2, 5, 10, 30, or 60 seconds until the battery dies or the SD card fills. Another nice touch: slo-mo. If you run the camera at 60fps in 720p mode, playback at 30fps slows things down by half.
VholdR ContourHD
Covert capture with the Oceanic Preservation Society
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